On January 17, 2005 the American Library Association announced the winners of the Caldecott Medal and the Newbery Medal.  The Caldecott Medal is awarded each year for the best picture book.  The actual medal is given for the art and thus goes to the illustrator.  Then Newbery Medal is given each year for the best chapter book.

The 2005 medals (for books published in 2004) go to:

Caldecott Medal Book:

         Kittens First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

The kitten mistakes the moon for his bowl of milk in this creatively illustrated story using only black, white and shades of grey.

Newbery Medal Book:

         Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

This is the story of two Japanese-American sisters set in the 1950’s and 60’s.

Honor Books are also named.  These are titles that were highly considered for the gold medal.

Caldecott Honors went to :

• The Red Book by Barbara Lehman
• Coming on Home Soon by Jacqueline Woodson
• Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems (he was an honor winner last year also!)

Newbery Honors went to:

• Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
• The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marion Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman
• Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy byGary Schmidt

And… at long last, the movie based on the Newbery honor winner of 2001, Because of Winn Dixie, will open in theaters on February 13, 2005.  Don’t miss it!